The District of Kitimat raised an orange flag on Tuesday morning (Sept. 6) ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.
The flag was hoisted by Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth and Haisla Nation Chief Councillor Crystal Smith at the Kitimat Fire Hall.
“It’s important to us in the District of Kitimat to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as we work to enhance our relationship with the Haisla Nation,” Germuth said.
“We’re proud to fly an orange flag in honour of that effort to acknowledge the past and to commit to our continued relationship building,” he added.
This is the second year Kitimat raised an orange flag after it passed a bylaw in 2021 to keep the flag up for the whole month of September.
Last year on June 3, the federal government officially announced Sept. 30 as a new annual statutory day (National Day of Truth and Reconciliation) after Bill C–5 was passed by both houses of Parliament.
The move by the federal government came after a series of discoveries of buried remains of children and others in unmarked graves at former residential school sites across Canada.
The idea to have such a day was first originally proposed as one of the 94 recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report released in 2015.